| Accidents that damage the spinal cord are devastating, often leaving people partially or totally paralyzed. But one day it may be possible for people to recover from these accidents thanks to research on humble worms known as C. elegans or nematodes. Nematodes are only one millimeter long, but for Dr. Joseph Culotti, Senior Scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital's Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, C.elegans represent an ideal model of a human spinal cord. Dr. Joseph Culotti has received a 1999 Medical Research Council (MRC) Distinguished Scientist Award. This prestigious award was given to Dr. Culotti in recognition of his outstanding research in understanding how neurons are stimulated to grow, knowledge that will ultimately help in our ability to regenerate damaged spinal cords. Dr. Culotti's team is studying the molecular mechanisms involved in guiding growing neurons to their proper synaptic targets in the developing nervous system using the nematode worm C. elegans as a model.
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